MARANA, Ariz. — Bring together the top 64 players in the world and no one knows what to expect.

Especially at the Match Play Championship.

Hunter Mahan, the defending champion, was asked Monday to list the top three players who have the best reputation in this format. He made logical choices in Luke Donald, Tiger Woods and Ian Poulter.

Donald, who won this event in 2011, has a magnificent short game and can produce the kind of shots that change momentum in a match. Poulter, the star of just about every Ryder Cup he plays, has such a strong self-belief that he can will his way to wins, as he did at Dove Mountain in 2010. And Tiger, well, is Tiger.

“Just a great player and he doesn’t like to lose,” Mahan said.

Before anyone pencils in a bracket that puts those three players in the semis, consider recent history.

Donald was No. 1 in the world and lost in the first round a year ago. Poulter hasn’t made it beyond the opening round since he won the Match Play Championship.

Woods, the only back-to-back winner of this World Golf Championship, hasn’t made it out of the second round since his last win in 2008.